Close shave for Air India plane carrying over 100 passengers

Over 100 people on board an Air India plane had a close shave when two tyres of the left landing gear of the aircraft deflated soon after it landed at the IGI airport in New Delhi on Tuesday.

"Air India's Mumbai-Bhopal-Indore-Delhi flight (IC-133) with 100 passengers and six crew members landed atDelhi airport around 10.58 a.m and was taxiing towards the parking bay when engineers at the ground noticed two deflated tyres of the left landing gear and sparks emanating due to friction," an airline official said.

They then immediately informed the pilot and asked him to stop the Airbus-320 aircraft.

The crash fire tenders were immediately called in, which sprinkled water and foam to cool the aircraft'sundercarriage in order to prevent any fire, he said, adding "all the passengers onboard are safe".

According to sources, there was no tyre burst as the pilot did not notice any unusual jerk. "The tyres got deflatedafter the aircraft had landed and while it was taxiing," they said.